Tembo House Hotel & Apartments

Tembo House Hotel & Apartments puts you in Zanzibar City for the parts of a diving holiday that happen between departures: a room with somewhere to cool off, food close at hand, and the old streets of Stone Town outside. The building is a three-storey boutique hotel with 65 rooms, right on the seafront and beside a white-sand beach. It is a practical base for divers who want the town on the doorstep rather than a self-contained resort with nowhere much to go once the sun drops.

English is spoken by the hotel team, along with French, German, Spanish and Italian. That matters when you are discussing airport arrangements, a room change or the small but important question of when breakfast actually starts. Free Wi-Fi runs throughout the hotel, and the range of room types covers solo stays, couples, twin-sharing divers and families. There is also a more eccentric option: the Freddie Mercury Apartment, with a balcony facing the city.

You are in Zanzibar City, Tanzania, at P.O. BOX 3974 Shangani, Zanzibar Stonetown. The hotel sits on the seafront, with direct access to a white-sand beach equipped with sun loungers and parasols. In other words, the sea is not something you reach by arranging a small expedition across town.

Stone Town is close enough to explore on foot, while the hotel itself keeps the useful basics within reach: shops, a souvenir shop, an ATM, currency exchange and a tourist desk for arranging excursions. Parking is available, and car hire can be arranged for seeing more of the island. The setting suits a diver who wants a town stay with beach access, rather than a beach resort isolated from Zanzibar City.

For two divers, the choice is mainly about the view and the balcony. A double room with a city view keeps things straightforward, while the balcony versions give you somewhere to sit with tea or coffee before the day gets moving. If the sea matters more than the street outside, the double and twin rooms with sea views add the balcony, the outlook and, in the listed equipment, a kitchen. The twin sea-view option makes sense when two divers want separate beds without giving up the view.

Travelling with a third person or with family means looking at the triple and family categories rather than trying to make a compact double do heroic work. The sea-view triple has a balcony, fridge, air-conditioning, fan, safe and tea- and coffee-making facilities. Family rooms are available with a balcony, with a sea view, or with both. The Freddie Mercury Apartment is the room with the clearest sense of occasion: balcony, city view, kitchen, microwave, fridge and air-conditioning, plus enough domestic equipment to make a longer stay easier.

The practical kit is well suited to hot, salty days. Air-conditioning and a fan help you settle down, while a fridge and minibar mean cold water does not have to be a philosophical concept. Several categories include a safe, television, Wi-Fi, private bathroom, towels, toiletries and a hairdryer. The sea-view double and twin rooms also list bathrobes and slippers. Some rooms include a fireplace or heating, although Zanzibar is unlikely to demand both on the same afternoon.

Bahari Restaurant faces the ocean and works across breakfast, lunch and dinner. Its cooking combines international dishes, seafood and Zanzibari specialities, so you can keep things familiar when you are tired or use the table to stay properly in Zanzibar. The terrace gives the meal the useful ingredient that no menu can manufacture: a view of the water.

Breakfast is included, and buffet service is available. The hotel also has a restaurant, a bar, a café and a snack bar, with room service running around the clock. That gives you more than one way to deal with the post-dive hunger: sit down at Bahari, take something lighter at the café or order to the room when the bed has already won the argument.

Tea, coffee, bottled water and a kettle are available, and packed lunches can be arranged. A shared kitchen and kitchen facilities in selected accommodation add flexibility for longer stays or for anyone who prefers not to turn every meal into an event. The exact meal arrangement belongs to the room booking, so check that detail when choosing your package.

The sensible post-dive plan here is not complicated: walk the beach, take a lounger under a parasol, then find a quiet corner with a book. The hotel has a garden, terrace, sun terrace, library and picnic area, giving you several places to sit without turning relaxation into a scheduled activity. There is also billiards for the sort of evening where a little competition is acceptable but another serious physical effort is not.

The wellness facilities cover a spa, sauna, steam bath, hammam, massage and beauty treatments. The hammam is also the named treatment at the hotel’s spa, which makes it a useful option when your muscles have had enough of carrying dive gear and your shoulders would like a different sort of attention. Massage and beauty treatments are available as part of the wellness offering.

If you want to move rather than simply recover, the hotel lists cycling, fishing, darts, tennis, snorkelling and water-sports facilities. Golf is available at a course 3 km away. Excursion assistance, bicycle hire and vehicle hire make it possible to use the hotel as a base for seeing more of Zanzibar, while the beach remains close enough for the lower-effort version of the afternoon.

Airport transfers are available through the hotel, either as a private transfer or a shared shuttle, and vehicle hire can also be arranged. The hotel can help with excursions, tickets and other local arrangements through its concierge and tourist-assistance services. Parking is available for guests arriving by car, and luggage storage is available for the awkward gap between leaving the room and leaving the island.

Reception operates around the clock, with express and private check-in and check-out available. Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel. Laundry, dry cleaning, ironing, shoe polishing, a safe, an ATM and currency exchange cover the less glamorous jobs that tend to appear during a longer trip. The hotel also offers room service, beach and pool towels, and facilities for guests with reduced mobility, including wheelchair access.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Visa Electron are accepted. The electrical supply is 230 volts at 50 Hz, with type D and type G sockets. The reception is open 24 hours.